Scripture Reading

I have set a goal for myself (again) to keep up on my scripture reading.  To help me with this I'm posting about what my daily scripture reading was on facebook every day.  I thought each Sunday I'd share my reading and thoughts for the week on my blog as well. 

Feb 26-
As you know, I tend to just open my scriptures and read where I open it unless I'm researching a certain topic. Today I fell onto Jacob 2. The other night on a date we were talking about why people get divorced and of course when I mentioned the porn/sex issues of my marriage the guy said that he hears that from every divorced LDS woman he runs into... and it's true. SO many marriages end because of the sames issues mine did. Because this was just a discussion I had, Jacob 2:31 & 35 stood out to me. It's interested that the same issues we have today were issues hundreds and thousands of years ago. As I'm on my journey of single-hood I think a lot about this.

"For behold, I, the Lord, have seen the sorrow, and heard the mourning of the daughters of my people in the land of Jerusalem, yea, and in all the lands of my people, because of the wickedness and abominations of their husbands. Behold, ye have done greater iniquities than the Lamanites, our brethren. Ye have broken the hearts of your tender wives, and lost the confidence of your children, because of your bad examples before them; and the sobbings of their hearts ascend up to God against you. And because of the strictness of the word of God, which cometh down against you, many hearts died, pierced with deep wounds."

Feb 27-
My scripture reading for today was D&C 60. I know that I was blessed with a lot of talents, both spiritual and temporal. Some of them I share on a regular basis, but there are some talents I have which I don't share for whatever reason. I know people who are too scared to ever show their talents, take risks or reach for goals. They are in a state of non-progression in a lot of ways. Personally I am always striving to better myself and move forward, even when I often feel that I am lacking and slacking. I feel that if you aren't moving forward, you're moving backwards so as long as I keep trying at least I am doing something. My moving forward may not be as great as someone else's moving forward, but that doesn't make a difference as long as we are moving. Today D&C 60:2-5 stood out to me:

"But with some I am not well pleased, for they will not open their mouths, but they hide the talent which I have given unto them, because of the fear of man. Wo unto such, for mine anger is kindled against them. And it shall come to pass, if they are not more faithful unto me, it shall be taken away, even that which they have. For I, the Lord, rule in the heavens above, and among the armies of the earth; and in the day when I shall make up my jewels, all men shall know what it is that bespeaketh the power of God."

This is such a reminder to me to not be afraid of what men (and women) think about me. What I do and strive to do is between me and God. If we don't use our talents and strengths we will lose them.

When God talks about making up his jewels, I have a little note written in the sidebar of my scriptures that says "to make a jewel takes time, heat, pressure & stress". Who of us don't want to become jewels? As we use our talents, set goals and strive for those things that are good and important we will feel the heat, we will have pressure upon us until we almost crack and we will have stress in our lives. We will often also feel that things are not happening in the time frame we want, but you can't rush creating a jewel. I know I want to become a jewel and I need to remember this as things aren't happening in the way I want them to. 

Feb 28-
As I pulled out my Book of Mormon today I was impressed to put it back down and reread one of my favorite conference talks called Your Happily Ever After. I'd like to share a couple of quotes from it.

"It is your reaction to adversity, not the adversity itself, that determines how your life’s story will develop." --- "Enduring adversity is not the only thing you must do to experience a happy life. Let me repeat: how you react to adversity and temptation is a critical factor in whether or not you arrive at your own 'happily ever after.'"

This is really something to think about! We all have trials in our lives. Some similar and some completely unique. It's amazing to me to see two people who have gone through the exact same thing and yet the outcome of each was completely different. You can have one person who falls apart, becomes angry and makes wrong choices, hurting themselves and those around them all with their trial to blame. And then you can have another person who is strong and stubborn and comes out of the fire a better person with that same trial to blame. It really isn't the trials, pains and stresses that determines who we are! It's how we react to them! Do we break down or do we build up? Do we simply endure or do we grow and learn and become a better person? In my own life I have seen times where I have really learned and grown from a painful experience... and I have seen times where I have temporarily fallen apart and let it break me down. Thankfully I have always been able to pull myself back together and taken something from the experience. This talk is a great reminder to me that I need to focus more on what I am doing to get through trials than focus on the trials themselves.

March 1-
The thought that struck me tonight as I was reading is a very familiar one. We could probably all quote the scripture that sparked the thoughts:

Mosiah 4:27 "And see that all these things are done in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength. And again, it is expedient that he should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize; therefore, all things must be done in order."

I often run faster than I have strength... and then I crash and burn. Have you ever seen a little kid get running so fast they trip over their own feet and face plant? That's me. I get so busy and caught up in so many projects that none of them are getting my full attention and I'm so stressed out I'm ready to crack. A goal I've had over the last couple of months was to SLOW down and it's worked, even though not the way that I've planned. I've taken a step back from school responsibilities, extra children, unnecessary projects and even a lot of my blogging. What has replaced those things is more time with my children, more focus on church responsibilities, building friendships, setting goals, listening to the spirit and simply doing nothing. For someone who has been insanely busy her whole life laying around doing nothing is a big deal to me.

I'm not saying that I'll always be going at the slow pace I am now, but while I'm here I will enjoy it. As long as I'm diligent in the things that are important, I will win the prize! One prize I have seen over the last month is the fact I have felt very close to my Heavenly Father. I've been able to recognize His hand in my every day decision-making and it's a wonderful thing. I find myself making decision that I wouldn't normally make and taking risks I would typically avoid and feeling peace about it all. I'm feeling more love for my children, more desirous for things like dating and building close relationships and more adventurous towards obtaining my goals. I think this is the first time in my life I've slowed down. I know compared to some of you I'm still crazy busy, but compared to myself I have really taken a step back and I'm seeing the benefits. ♥